Great pilot; No ship
by Deus
Summary: A pilot from the future gets stuck on Gaea and captured by the DragonSlayers. But she is more than she seems...
1. Prologue

This is my first fic, and I haven't seen all the episodes yet, so you'll just have  
to excuse minor errors, especially in the characters from Escaflowne. I don't own them,   
bla, bla. But I do own Kaeshya.   
  
Kaeshya chanted her mantra to herself as the enemy fighter bore down on her tail.   
"Calm. Stay calm. The enemy is emotional, you do not have to be." These were the words  
of her flight instructor, who taught her how to fly and fight, before she was the best  
star-fighter pilot in the fleet. She waited patiently for the enemy fighter to attempt to   
get a lock on her ship. They still used missiles for some reason; apparently they had no   
energy weapons. Kaeshya heard the first beep of the sequence which would indicate that the  
enemy was locked on. She heard the second. Just before she knew the third would come, she  
cut her throttle and pulled hard right. A missile flashed past her, uselessly heading out   
of orbit. Meanwhile, Kaeshya rolled her ship and activated the retro-engines. The enemy   
fighter flashed by close in pursuit of its missile. Kaeshya rolled her ship neatly behind   
the enemy craft, and throttled forwards. She sent three torpedoes roaring up his tailpipe.   
Before her adversary could have possibly known what hit him, three plasma torpedoes tore   
through his ship, vaporizing it. Just as she was beginning to relax a little, she felt her ship shudder. It hadn't felt like something impacting the shields. The ship shuddered again, and, quite suddenly, all her instruments were showing red. The last thing she remembered was total sensory deprivation, and then nothing.  



	2. Stranded and Captured

Kaeshya chapter 1 This is my first fic, and I haven't seen all the episodes yet, so you'll just have to   
excuse minor errors, especially in the characters from Escaflowne. I don't own them,   
bla, bla. But I do own Kaeshya. Oh and review. Reviews are good. Even if they are   
bad reviews. I know this chapter is a little slow, but the pace will pick up. I promise.   
Final words: REVIEW! 

Kaeshya woke, dazed. Quickly, she took in her surroundings. She was still in her ship,   
or rather, what remained of it. It lay in a deplorable state around her, smashed to pieces   
by the force of what must have been an uncontrolled crash landing. She was in the middle   
of a dense forest, possibly one of the moon's hunting preserves. Kaeshya quickly looked   
herself over, and found only minor scrapes. She was relieved. Considering how hard she   
must have hit, she was lucky to be relatively unscathed, much less alive. Come to think   
of it, she rather couldn't understand at all how she had survived. Reason said she should   
be dead, and a smoking crater be all that was left of her ship. Yet she wasn't dead, and   
there was no crater. Perhaps she could raise an orbiting carrier. There should have been   
several in orbit, with the frequent attacks on Earth. She sighed, and began to dig through   
the wreckage, in hopes of being able to get at the cargo bay, if it was still intact.   


"Dilandau, there was a large meteor of some sort an hour or so ago. I want you to   
send someone to investigate," Folken said, idly gazing out the huge window towards a small   
pillar of smoke which could be seen winding through the trees some distance away. 

"Hmph. It's only a meteor! What point is there in looking? It would be a waste   
of time, and divert us from finding Escaflowne." 

"I do not think it was a mere meteor. It showed signs of a somewhat controlled   
descent. Besides, Dornkirk is interested, so I don't think you have a choice. He thinks   
it may be a technological item of importance." 

"Oh all right then! Go take a look" Dilandau gestured contemptuously for two   
slayers to go. "Don't be more than an hour!"   


Kaeshya had managed to find only a few things intact in the wreckage, a powerful comm-unit,   
and several small canisters of nano-robots, which she attached to her belt; they would be   
quite useful later. She set up the comm-unit to hail all Earth frequencies. She looked   
up to get an approximate idea of where she was, the moon, or Earth. She nearly fell over   
backwards at what she saw. The Earth and moon were clearly visible, and not only that,   
they were huge! Far larger than they ever should have been from another planet!   
Kaeshya abruptly sat down, realizing, that she was not anywhere she knew, and the chances   
of any other humans being in orbit were near zero. She sat there, so absorbed in her own   
thoughts, that she did not notice when two shadows passed quickly over her.   


"Wow. That's quite a wreck!" One of the slayers said, after the two had flown over and   
landed some distance away, "And what's left of it sure doesn't look like a guymelef."   
"No kidding! Though whatever it was must have been at least as large! Hey is that a person   
! How could someone survive that!?!" the voice of the other slayer was incredulous.   
"Lets just pick up that person and report back to Dilandau. We'll use the stealth cloaks;   
by the time he figures out we've got him, it'll be too late." And with that, they began   
to advance towards the site of the wreck.   


Kaeshya had sunk herself into a deep trance to ascertain whether she has sustained any   
internal injuries, and lay limp on the grass just beyond the wreck of her fighter. She   
never even noticed when she was picked up and lifted into the air.   



	3. Can You?

Kaeshya chapter 2 This may be a little short for a chapter..let me know (via reviews, because reviews are good). I hope it's not as dry as the last chapter. 

"Lord Dilandau, we found this woman at the site, and it appears some sort of   
mechanical device was destroyed, or crashed, there, sir."   
"Hmmm," Dilandau said idly, as her looked over the woman lying limp before him.   
She was dressed in an unusual black one-piece suit, which was nearly form-fitting. Around   
her waist she wore a belt of some sort, to which several clear cylinders filled with a   
greyish liquid were attached, as well as some odd devices that looked like tools. She had   
long, braided, nova white hair, with just a tiny hint of the lightest blue in the   
highlights. Other than that she looked relatively normal, though there wsa something about   
her which gave Dilandau the sense that something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't figure   
out what it was; this frusrated him immensely. "Lock her in a spare room and call me when   
she wakes up. If she does." He dismissed the slayers contempuously, and sank into thoughts   
of other things. 

Kaeshya stayed in trance until she was absolutely sure that she was not seriously   
injured in a way which would not be noticable on the surface. She brought herself up from   
the depths of her self-induced trance slowly, and opened her eyes. And then experienced a   
massive attack of "Oh my God, where am I?!" After overcoming her intitial shock, she looked   
ascertained that she was in what looked like a bedroom, small, and not often used, with no   
windows. And she guessed that the door was locked. Kaeshya was correct. She still had her   
belt and its contents as well, which was a relief. Obviously whoever locked her up had no   
idea what was on that belt. She could escape...if she wanted to. But she wanted to see who   
her captor was first. She moved to the door, and checked the knob, though she knew it was   
locked. She rattled it, sure that it was enough noise to alert the gaurd who was on the   
other side of the door, that she was awake. She quickly checked all her equiptment, then sat   
down on the small cot and began to rebraid her long, white/blue hair. 

"Lord Dilandau, the prisoner has awaken, sir."   
"Bring her here." The slayer immediately rushed off to bring the strange woman,   
not wanting to upset Dilandau, who seemed in an unusual mood. He shortly returned, the woman   
following, hands tied behind bakc, though she exuded an attitude which made it seem that the   
bonds meant nothing. Before Dilandau could even open his mouth, Kaeshya spoke.   
"Who are you, where am I, and why are you trying to hold me prisoner?" the woman   
spoke quickly, and in a no-nonsense to the point tone. Dilandau's eyes narrowed and he   
leaned forwards in his throne, his anger very near the surface.   
"And who are you to ask such questions of me?" he answered, challengingly.   
"I am Liuetenant Novani, of the Terran Defense Initiative. Now its you turn." the   
woman's tone of voice had not altered one bit. It only served to anger Dilandau more.   
"I am LORD Dilandau, commander of the dragon slayers, and the Vione, on which you are   
currently MY prisoner." was the reply.   
"You will release me." the last was a statement from Kaeshya. Dilandau's eyes   
blazed.   
"NO! I will release you when I see fit!!" Dilandau thundered.   
"No, you will release me NOW."   
"Take her away!!" Instantly, several slayers moved to restrain her and lead Kaeshya   
back to her cell. Dilandau noticed the rope tying her fraying, and her arms seemed to be   
pushing against it. All at once, the rope snapped in two. She turned quickly, and backhanded   
the closest slayer, knocking him to the floor. She dropped to a crouch, and spun in a circle   
leg extended, knocking over another two slayers. A fourth she dispatched with a well aimed   
kick to the chest. Dilandau just sat in his throne, amused. "You're not bad." he said, in   
a manner which made that statement a definite insult. "But can you use a sword?" When he   
said that, Kaeshya turned towards him, eyes glittering in anticipation. She walked to an   
unconscious slayer, and deprived him of his blade.   
"Can you?"   
  



	4. Swordplay

Ok

For Sarryn: I demand the end of chibification for all!! Ok, I'll make this chapter a bit longer. Reviews make me happy! Thanx to all of you who did! May I present... Chapter 3!

"Can you?"The words hung in the air, and a long silence followed.

Kaeshya stood, sword held at the ready. Dilandau's attitude changed slightly, for as far as he could tell, this woman looked like she was quite confident in swordplay. He stood up, hand at sword hilt. 

"Is that a challenge?" Dilandau queried, his voice dangerously icy.

"It most assuredly is. To first blood! I win, you let me go. You win, you can keep me here, and I give you my word I won't try to escape."

"Deal." Dilandau immediately pronounced, a wicked gleam in his eyes as he drew. Kaeshya noted the cockiness, and hoped she could use that against him. Dilandau descended from his throne, and advanced towards Kaeshya. They circled warily waiting for the other to make the first move. Suddenly and completely without warning, Dilandau lunged, sword at his side, towards Kaeshya. She waited until he was very close, and neatly sidestepped, at the same time giving Dilandau a good smack on his back, using the flat side of the sword. Not that it mattered anyways, since he was wearing armor.

"You'll have to do better than the _Lord_ Dilandau," Kaeshya jeered, drawing out the lord. He said nothing, but swung around to come at her again, this time with an overhead swing. Kaeshya moved quickly, and Dilandau's blade bounced harmlessly off her own. By this time a slayer or two had heard the commotion and were watching the battle from a safe distance, and not interfering. Now Kaeshya took the offensive, and began to assail Dilandau with a barrage of lightning-quick slashes. Dilandau was clearly under a large strain to defend himself from them. She moved faster, beginning to use quick jabs and short slices. By this point Dilandau was sweating heavily, and fear was beginning to show in his eyes. He backpedaled quickly and then came back at Kaeshya. She was surprised at this rather sudden change in tactics, and readied herself to block what looked like a blow of massive proportions. She began to bring her blade up as he closed in. But the blow she expected never came.She had to use the hard plastic of her left palm's glove to block the blow from the side.Fortunately it was not particularly fast, since the fight was not to the death.Still, it hurt.She brought her sword back to ready position, and just in time.Dilandau was again pressing an attack, this time much more fierce than his earlier ones.She found she actually had to exert some effort to hold him off, and was occasionally aware of her grip slipping.Several times it nearly cost her the fight, with only the fact that she managed to dodge saving her.Soon, she saw an opening, but instead of striking with her sword, and kicked Dilandau's legs out from under him.He fell heavily to the floor, but rolled away from her quick stroke, which would have nicked his bare neck.He was on his feet faster that Kaeshya had expected, but she was already again on the offensive.She knew there were at least ten slayers watching the confrontation now.There was also another, who stood apart, and wore no armor.He was taller than most of the slayers, and looked older.He looked calmly on, as opposed to the slayers talked among them selves, hissed at every near miss of Dilandau, and lamented when he couldn't hit Kaeshya.Kaeshya refocused her attention completely to the fight at hand.She knew Dilandau was beginning to become frustrated, and she should soon be able to defeat him.She pushed her attack ever more aggressively, aiming to back him against the wall.He tried to back a little to the side, but a vicious swipe of her sword served to keep him backing straight into the wall.She could taste victory even now.It was but a few steps to the wall.She took a swing, and he didn't block, but ducked.She moved to block an attack from his right, the primary hand he used when swinging the sword.She thought it odd that such light weapons were two-handed, and wielded hers with two only with necessary.She the muscles in his arms tense and readied to block from the right.He moved. But not on the right.Instead he jabbed to the left, and missed deeply cutting her midriff by only a few centimeters.Kaeshya could fell blood.Fortunately, it was a shallow cut. He had, however, sliced open both of the containers of fluid on her belt. She hissed, both from her injury and the sliced containers, and dropped to the ground where a large puddle had just so recently formed. The containers (or the pieces of them) on her waist were empty. She put her hand in the puddle, and it dwindled to nothing.In the time she had dropped to the floor, Dilandau had dashed behind her.

"I believe," Dilandau said, sword point at the back of Kaeshya's neck, and mopping his brow with his free hand, "that you remain my prisoner."

"Unfortunately, you are correct."

"You will not attempt to escape?"

"I gave you my word."

"Very well, take her to an open room. With a window." Dilandau grinned evilly. Clearly there was something about a window he though would have a negative effect on Kaeshya. A slayer came to lead her to her new room, after taking her borrowed sword. The walk was a long one, and Kaeshya wondered if they were in some sort of fortress, for it certainly looked like one from the inside. They were walking towards a crossing hall, when a group of fix or six slayers ran by in a state of panic. Kaeshya raised an eyebrow. The slayer continued to lead her through a maze of twisting passages. Eventually they reached a steel door with little or no ornamentation, and a small knocker.

"This will be your room. Dilandau has told me that you have free reign on this level of the Vione, save all private rooms, the bridge, and Folken's rooms." With that the slayer left her to settle herself. She inspected the door, and was pleased to find that it could not be locked from the outside. After ensuring that, she proceeded into the room and looked around. It was furnished, if plainly. Perhaps the most important thing was the window. It was almost an entire wall. Kaeshya looked out and saw- clouds. Just clouds. Stunned, she walked quickly to the window and saw that she was some distance above the ground. Forget escaping any time soon. She would just have to make herself comfortable on the, what had the slayer called it, oh the Vione.She wondered briefly at the freedom Dilandau had given her, since he was certainly not the trusting type.No doubt she would be constantly watched.She looked over the room with a much more critical eye, looking for the telltale signs of bugs.Either they didn't have the technology, or simply hadn't bothered with the effort.That was some relief.And the door had a bolt on the inside too, which would her a measure of privacy, though she was sure they could open the door if they wanted to somehow.She threw the bolt, for she wanted a little time to think alone, and then possibly sleep.She paced the room.She was stuck on some planet which by all logic could not and did not exist, she was trapped in a giant floating fortress swarming with armed men, and she had no idea if she would ever get home.She stretched, and a sharp pain made her quickly stop that activity.She had forgotten about her little scratch. No matter.She could heal it quickly with what she had brought from her ship.The best thing for now, she Kaeshya decided, was some sleep.

Kaeshya awoke, as far as she could tell, several hours later after sunset.An odd faint blue glow poured through the huge window, light from the Earth.It was very different from what Earth was like at night.It was a beautiful sight, a much better view than from Luna.She enjoyed the spectacle for a while, and the decided to look around the ship.It was night, so hopefully not as many slayers would be about to notice her.She unbolted the door, and padded silently into the hall.She chose a direction at random, being very careful to imprint every detail on her mind, so that she would be able to find her way back.She was passing what seemed to be just so many bedrooms.Eventually she came to something interesting, after a great deal of exploring.She stumbled upon a large door that led to a hangar of some sort. It was very dark, and she could just make out large shapes hanging from the ceiling.They showed essentially no heat either.Kaeshya wanted to come back when it was light.She started back for her room, retracing her steps.She walked for some time, and then opened a door which she expected to lead to a hallway near her room.The door opened into a large, domed room. "This is definitely not a hallway.And that means I'm lost."

Well, that's it for chapter 3.It's definitely longer than the first two.Please Review.It will make me happy (and not coincidentally, more likely to write more sooner.) REVIEW.


	5. Discovered?

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Chapter 4 is here.R+R please!

Kaeshya swore vehemently. What was she going to do if she couldn't find her room? She certainly didn't want to be caught snooping around, although technically she was allowed to. And she really didn't want to have to ask for help from one of the slayers. She knew she probably wouldn't find her way back to her room with any great speed anyhow, so she decided to survey the room in more detail. There was nothing on the floor as far as normal furnishings went, although there were three pedestal like things in the middle of the floor. The walls appeared relatively blank as well. One of them seemed to have a large mass of equipment on it, perhaps with some sort of view-screen. It was hard for Kaeshya to tell, since there were only a few very dim lights on, and the thing wasn't emitting any heat. She was about to head for the door, but she halted when she heard footsteps in the hall. She moved quietly to the far end of the room, out of sight of the door and (she hoped) the screen, if that was indeed what it was. She could now make out two separate pairs of footsteps, and a pair of voices. One was somewhat familiar, but muffled as it was by the walls, Kaeshya wasn't sure who it was. The door slid open, and admitted two figures. One was Dilandau, the other that strange taller man whom had observed the duel which had been but a few hours ago. Apparently it was not as late as Kaeshya had thought.

"You're sure there was nothing there worth retrieving but that woman?" the taller man asked.

"Yes; all that was left was a smoking pile of rubble. My slayers reported that nothing was intact worth taking."

"Odd." The taller man proceeded to the three pedestals in the floor, and as he approached, a little cylinder rose out of each. He pressed them down in sequence. Kaeshya stepped forwards a little to get a better view, curiosity momentarily overriding caution. The thing which Kaeshya had supposed to be a screen (it was) came to life suddenly, causing Kaeshya to stumble backwards in surprise, and portrayed a wizened old man with far too much hair in neat little curls.

"What is your report Folken?"

"Nothing was found which was deemed recoverable. However, we have retrieved a woman who appears to be the survivor of the crash. She identified herself as from Terra- I believe perhaps this is the mystic moon's name for itself, and she claims to be a Lieutenant in some organization. She wore the strangest tool-belt I have seen, which I believe contains objects of great value to her, possibly technologically advanced. She fights exceedingly well with a sword though, which makes the possibility of advanced technology less likely. It is puzzling."

"There is another object blocking my vision of the future, besides the dragon.It may be this woman you speak of.But whatever it is, is wavers in and out.A tiny action should be able to keep it from obstructing our goals. Find it! Learn of it, and if necessary to keep it from interfering, destroy it! When we talk again, I will give you a more detailed description of who or what it is.But, besides that what is your progress regarding the dragon? 

"We are still chasing it." The tall man, apparently named Folken, replied. It was only now that Kaeshya noticed that Dilandau was kneeling. It was rather amusing to see him in a position of subservience to someone. The conversation ended with the old man instructing Folken to contact him again at a similar time tomorrow. The two men walked out, and Kaeshya followed as discreetly as possible, flitting from shadow to shadow, but making more noise than she would have liked. "Dilandau, if you can find that woman- did she give her first name? Well anyways, send her to me when you do." Kaeshya continued to shadow them, but the rest of their conversation centered on some Escaflowne thing, and she lost interest. Eventually they led her back to the large hall where she had dueled with Dilandau, and from there she headed back to her room, reasonably sure of the way. She wasn't completely sure, but she was fairly certain that Folken had known he was being followed, and he seemed intelligent enough to be able to guess who it was. She managed to find her way back to her room and once arriving there, she bolted the door behind her, and sat on her bed. She must have been more tired than she thought, because before she could contemplate her situation further, she was asleep.

Kaeshya awoke with the sunrise, as she was used to doing, but was rather stiff, presumably from the unusual bed. She stretched, and her back cracked. She looked out of the window, over the large verdant plain which lay below. Her reverie was rudely interrupted by an excessively loud banging on the thin steel door. The reverb effect was most annoying. The answered with a very sharp "What do you want!?"

"Would you like some breakfast," came the sufficiently cowed, at least as far Kaeshya was concerned, answer. She unbolted the door, and opened it just a crack, to observe a younger slayer outside. She opened the door completely, and stepped out.

"Where?"

"Follow me please." The slayer led her through the huge maze of twisting passages ("What was wrong with a grid system?" Kaeshya thought) and eventually to a room occupied by a long table, at the head of which was, predictably, Dilandau. Kaeshya laughed to herself. His constant need to show himself as superior to everyone else was a clear sign of a mental problem. Kaeshya's following thought was "as if that wasn't obvious!" She seated herself, at the farthest seat from Dilandau, as the slayer indicated. She looked across the table, and decided to engage Dilandau in a staring match. Dilandau, being the psychotic, ultra-competitive person he was, could not resist. They stared for a few minutes. The slayers fidgeted, annoyed that they could not start eating before Dilandau, who was occupied for an unknown length of time. Kaeshya and Dilandau stared at each other some more. Neither made any move to stop. Eventually the slayers, one by one, got up and left. One remained, seated on Dilandau's left. He eventually spoke up.

"Sir, could we please eat now?" Without moving his head, Dilandau's right hand delivered a vicious slap to the slayers cheek. The slayer was knocked backwards in his chair. The staring continued. Eventually, both became tired of it, and simultaneously began to eat, ignoring the other. When Kaeshya was done, she rose. She was quite surprised to find a knife lodged in the wall merely and inch or two from her head.

"Don't try anything stupid. We wouldn't want that. It might be dangerous." He was currently in the act of sharpening his eating knife, an odd look in his eyes, and the last almost sounded like an invitation to try something.It made sense though, she was sure Dilandau would relish in killing her.

"Suicide would not be my choice of demise." Kaeshya returned, and left the room.She nearly bumped into Folken on her way out, deeply submerged in her thoughts."Oh, I'm sorry!" she said automatically, reverting to what her behavior would have been on Earth.

"Its quite alright."Folken said quietly."May I talk to you somewhere a little…quieter?" he continued.

"Why?"Kaeshya asked, suddenly snappish, remembering her position.It was quite possible that the less they knew about her, the better.

"I need to know more about you so that I may report it to Dornkirk, the emperor of Zaibach.I think you heard that much in the communication room anyways."

"How did you know?!" Kaeshya started, genuinely surprised.She must not have been practicing being stealthy enough.She had performed many years of infiltration and assassination missions, and never been detected.But then, perhaps these people had technology that did not exist on Terra.

"I wasn't sure until now, but I did know you were following Dilandau and I in the halls for quite some time.And I had though I heard noises a few time while I was reporting to Dornkirk.But besides his orders, I have a personal interest in you.I am a scientist of sorts, and I think you posses technology which you have not yet used," he pointed at her belt, with its array of tools (and perhaps a few weapons) to illustrate, "Also, I noted what happened to whatever you spilled on the floor when Dilandau nicked you, and your reaction to it.The fluid did not evaporate, but was drawn into your hand.Finally, I noticed something unusual about your right eye.If I am not mistaken, it's artificial."

Ooh, I am so evil!I just love to leave you hanging! Review please!!


	6. Attitude

I have decided to share my wisdom and state that anyone who does not like Escaflowne should be shot

I have decided to share my wisdom and state that anyone who does not like Escaflowne should be shot. Immediately. I don't own Escaflowne, nor the characters, bla, bla bla. Now, onto comments about the story...

In case I didn't make myself perfectly clear last time: REVIEW after you read the story! It makes the next chapter get finished sooner!!

Kaeshya couldn't say anything. She just stared, looking very like a landed fish. She was beyond even bothering to acknowledge Folken. How could he have possibly figured it out?! The eye was indeed artificial, but it was designed to look as human as possible with the means available to the manufacturers. The only telltale signs were that if you looked very closely, usually from less than an inch, one could see the individual parts of the iris which overlapped, much like some camera lenses. Also, the eye glowed, very, very faintly, in the dark. That was a reasonable explanation, Folken must have seen her when she followed them trough the hall; it had certainly been dark enough, and it would only have taken one look at Kaeshya's hair for her to be identified.

"I take it, from your reaction, that I am correct." Folken said dryly. Kaeshya was soon able to speak again, having recovered from her initial astonishment. 

"Since you are already sure, there is no reason for me to deny it. It is a replacement."

"I am impressed.We could not hope to replace an eye.How long have you had it?"

"As long as I can remember, which is only about seven years." Kaeshya was surprised that she had answered so readily.Of course, the information wasn't classified or anything, but she really didn't know this Folken character.Perhaps it was simply because his more subdued matter was such a pleasant change from Dilandau, the only other person she had talked to much, if at all.

"That seems rather short."

"My earliest memory was a doctor telling me the operation was successful.They said the memory loss was some sort of side effect."

"Didn't they tell you about your past?"

"They….I prefer not to discuss it."

"I see."Folken paused, and then began anew "How is it that you are such a skilled fencer? There are few who can rival Dilandau."

"I am….a…special agent, if you will.I run 'errands' for the government on Terra."

"You're an assassin?" Kaeshya stopped dead in her tracks, and looked up at Folken, her eyes betraying a deep sorrow.

"Please don't use that word!" she pleaded, "But, you are, in essence, correct."They walking on in silence, and Folken eventually lead them to a well furnished sitting room, and motioned Kaeshya to sit where she wished.Folken looked at the woman's eyes again, wondering if that look he had seen earlier was still there.It was, to a lesser degree, and Folken wondered if her eyes always looked that way, and if so, why?What could she have done, or witnessed, that was so horrible?

"Do you not have more advanced weapons than swords?" Folken asked, once again interested in the technology of the stranger's world.

"We do.But we also have defenses against them.Swords only recently became the standard weapon, or so I am told, 30 or so years ago.Of course, I suspect a blade of Terran manufacture would be much sharper than one of yours."

"Do you have one with you?"Kaeshya shook her head.

"It was destroyed in the crash."

"A pity.I would have liked to examine it.Do you have anything else with you from your planet?"At those words, Kaeshya stiffened, and Folken noted that the sorrowful looked in her eyes became overshadowed by blankness, coldness.He should be careful.He knew a killer (the type who would kill you without a second thought if you in any way obstructed their goals) when he saw one.

"I do; you may not look them over closely."

"What was in those containers which were destroyed by Dilandau, may I ask?"

"A regenerative fluid, a healing agent, you could call it, for emergencies."Kaeshya was pleased with the half-truth which she had used.It was accurate, but did not reveal the entire purpose of the aforementioned fluid.

"I can think of little else I need to ask you now.If I have more questions later, I will let you know.Perhaps you would like to return to your room?"Kaeshya acknowledged that idea."There should be a soldier outside who can show you the way."Kaeshya moved to the door, and it slid open t admit her."An Lieutenant, I'm very sorry if I caused you any distress."Kaeshya looked over her shoulder startledly, and Folken could see the coldness in her eyes fade a little.She just barely smiled, and the coldness was gone, leaving only the sorrow.

Kaeshya returned to her room, not sure what to think.Folken had been both irritating with his questions, and considerate, somewhat, of her feelings.It had been a long time since anyone had cared.The military and government treated her like a machine.She sighed, and looked out of the large window in her room, admiring yet another beautiful view.She turned away from it, and her thoughts wandered to clothes.She stalked out of her room, searching for a slayer.

Kaeshya returned the Vione late in the evening, outfitted with two new dresses.One was a deep night-blue; the other was a happier light red.It was nearly the time when the slayers had their evening meal, if Kaeshya had figured their routine out, and she decided to wear the blue dress to it, not feeling in a good enough mood for the red.Shortly after she had changed, the expected knock announced the arrival of her 'escort' to dinner.She opened the door, and smirked at the slayer's obvious struggle not to stare.Kaeshya's mood was lightened slightly.Dinner should be fun!She grinned maliciously as her mind played out Dilandau's various reactions, many of which ended up in her having an excuse to beat him with something, preferable a hard blunt object.They soon arrived at the table, and Kaeshya took a seat just about in the middle of the table.Dilandau raised an eyebrow at her new, and rather more attractive outfit.Probably wondering where the money had come from.He would incorrectly assume she had cajoled a slayer into paying, but she had actually pilfered a few gold pieces from _his_ room.That hadn't been easy, but it was fun.First she had had to find it, a difficult task in a maze so large as the Vione, (she had ended up following him to it in the middle of the day).Next, it had been easy to pick the lock with her 'tool', which was self-adapting.If it couldn't pick a lock it would change itself so it could.Taking the coins was easy.She wasn't worried about Dilandau finding out though, it was only a little out of his sizable hoard, and she had spent all she had taken.The dinner itself was marginal, and the best part (for her) was glaring when a slayer stared to long, though she enjoyed the unspoken praise.It was after dinner than things got interesting.

After they had begun to finish, and most were standing or leaving, Dilandau addressed himself to Kaeshya."You will come with me.We need to talk."

"I will not.I will go where I please."Kaeshya stated coolly.She saw the maniacal rage flaring up in Dilandau's eyes.

"You are my prisoner!You must do exactly as I say or you will die!"Kaeshya's eyes narrowed, and then a very loud 'crack' filled the room.The aftermath was Dilandau holding his cheek, which was now bright red. When he spoke, his tone was incredulous, so surprised that anger had momentarily vanished. "You slapped me!"

Oooo, I bet you all hate me now for stopping, but I'm going to anyways.Please Review!If you don't I won't know what's wrong (or right) with the story so I can't make it better!Plus if you review, the next chapter will get written, much, much faster!It really all boils down to: REVIEW!


	7. Long Way Down

The next chapter has arrived! Read and enjoy!Oh, and when you're done, you can review and make the writer oh so happy!Which will make him write more sooner! 

The room had become completely devoid of noise in a very short amount of time.Kaeshya peered at the shocked expression on Dilandau's face.She decided to take advantage of the situation and embarrass him as much as possible.Kaeshya was surprised at her own vindictiveness, she usually wasn't, but then, she had quickly developed a health animosity towards Dilandau; and it didn't help that he tried to order her around."You know," she began tilting her head a little, "you're kinda cute when you're surprised."This comment, of course, only severed to piss Dilandau off further, although she thought _maybe_ he had blushed for a split second there.

"Errrrgghhhhh, but you're a prisoner!You're no better than a SLAV-" Dilandau's outburst (and his palm which had been about to slap Kaeshya) were cut short by another vicious slap.This time, tiny beads of blood appeared where Kaeshya's nails had scratched his cheek.Dilandau stared once more, this time only slightly less surprised, and clearly about to explode with range.He made a move to continue his slap, but Kaeshya deftly stepped back, out of range.If he moved forwards again, she would step back to match.

"I may be your prisoner, but I WILL be treated with respect."Kaeshya said icily.She wasn't going to budge on that count.Dilandau would have to learn to be polite, or suffer the consequences (in this case, it would be more slaps, or a brutal beating).She wasn't worried about him drawing on her.With her new more "feminine" clothing, as far as she could tell, the chivalry of the slayers would not allow an armed man to attack her, even their superior."If you have something to talk about, you could _request_ that I come with you, and I would oblige you.Whenever you feel ready to be polite, you can find me."She stared at Dilandau, hoping he would try to attack her unarmed.He was better with the katana, but she was fairly sure she could kick his ass to next week hand-to-hand.He did nothing but glare, for he must have realized that she could probably beat him hand-to-hand.Perhaps her stance had given it away, and it was with not a little disappointment, Kaeshya left the room for her own.Dilandau apparently had though quickly, for heard a whistling, and then felt a bottle shatter on her back.It hurt.A lot. Not to mention it would stain.She turned about and said, "That was rather underhanded."Kaeshya left that for Dilandau to think about, not that he'd care.

Once she was sure Dilandau couldn't possibly see her face, she allowed a smirk to surface as she walked.She was very pleased with her actions, since she had, essentially, just ensured that she would not have to talk to Dilandau for some time to come.If she judged his type correctly, he would hold a grudge against her strongly enough (such that he wouldn't _ask _to talk) for days, or even weeks.But then, he would also find an excuse to do something to her, or multiple things, and on second thought, he wouldn't need an excuse, his wounded pride was enough reason for him.She continued to muse as she made her way back to her room.She would have to make sure she always had her tool-belt, since it was the most valuable of the meager possessions she had with her.Kaeshya was ecstatic when she was actually able to make her way back to her own room having only been lost twice along the way.It had only taken two days (and maybe 20 trips) for her to remember that much.On the other hand, she knew she should have been able to do better.She sat heavily on her bed, and fiddled idly with her long hair.She changed back into her shipsuit, since it was the most suitable for sleeping in, which was what she intended to do quite soon.She looked out over the planet below, and could see a few cities glowing brilliantly, in both light and heat.That was but one of the benefits of her replacement eye (and the enhancements in the other).She see could from just less than infrared, through the ultra-violet range.It was quite a useful skill, though sometimes the huge new ranges of colors got very annoying.She lay down in her bed, and willed herself to sleep.

She was haunted by odd dreams that night, the first time in several years.They seemed to revolve around many ruins, which somehow she knew were underwater, and specter's there, thanking her, and urging Kaeshya to join them.She asked where and they tried to show her, but she always seemed to fall back to the ruins.They looked sadly at her, and murmured to themselves."She's forgotten." "It's been to long.""Why won't she come?" "She did so much for us.""Please join us!""We miss you so!"It was a cacophony of voices, and Kaeshya heard only fragments of each, as each specter passed by, speaking to her or each other.Just when she felt something surfacing which would make the dream coherent, she awoke suddenly, and sat up with a start.

Kaeshya remembered the dream quite clearly, and wondered at what it meant, if anything.It was frustrating that she had woke up just when she seemed to be on the brink of understanding.She had to put it aside for later though, as it was a new day, and she intended to learn more about this planet she was stuck on, and maybe convince whoever was in charge that it would be safe to let her carry a sword.She decided to stay in her shipsuit; it was more comfortable than a dress, and more suited to fighting, if she had to, for whatever reason.She wandered off, in hopes of finding Folken, who was much more likely to be reasonable than Dilandau, especially after dinner last night.

Far faster than she had expected, Kaeshya had become lost, _again_.She was disgusted, and decided to ask for a ball of string to go with a sword.Then she could trail it behind her and find her way back to her room.She paused for a moment, trying to remember what myth that was from, but couldn't.Something Greek though.Kaeshya continued to wander around, and, completely by accident, somehow managed to find what she thought she recognized as Folken's rooms.She knocked."Come in," cam Folken's calm and soothing voice.The door slid open for her and she entered."Oh.I wasn't expecting you."Folken seemed mildly surprised.

"Good morning.I just wanted to find out more about this planet, and you seemed like the best person to talk to, since I doubt Dilandau is feeling particularly good about me right now."Her words elicited a small smile from Folken. 

"I heard about that.It should do Dilandau some good.He's very used to being instantly obeyed.Perhaps it will teach him to be more obedient."

"I doubt it," Kaeshya responded cynically. "You are technically in command of this vessel then?"

"Yes, though Dilandau rarely seems to care.He launches his guymelefs when and where he pleases, essentially, and just about never listens to my orders."

"Hmmm.On a somewhat less interesting topic, I would be pleased if you would tell me more about Gaea."And so Kaeshya spent the majority of that day, and more, in interesting conversations with Folken, both about Gaea and Earth.

During that period of relative inactivity, since they had moved over an open plain with no cities, she'd a few unpleasant surprises, like finding her clothes a smoldering pile of ashes in her closet (not her shipsuit fortunately, she had been wearing that), and she had a good idea of who did it.She didn't care though; Dilandau had paid for them anyways.But he didn't know that.She was surprised that he hadn't tried to poison her yet.Or, perhaps he had and hadn't succeeded for whatever reasons.

It took her a while, but she eventually also convinced Folken to let her wear a sword.It had been rather easy actually, when she had finally broached the topic. All she had done was say "Look, we're on a giant floating castle a thousand feet off the ground; so I'm not going anywhere anyhow, and I'm on the same floating castle with Dilandau, who just happens to be armed _and_ has a grudge against me."Folken had, seeing the obvious danger to Kaeshya's health (she was still valuable, alive, to the Zaibach empire for some reason) immediately consented and acquired a sword for her, which she now always wore.

And, after a week or two on the Vione, she had taken to the habit of eating with Folken instead of Dilandau and his slayers.She had had three reasons, the first was that if you put her and Dilandau in a room together there'd be trouble (their personalities didn't match-by a long shot), two, Folken ate better (it tasted better in any case), and the last reason, that she enjoyed Folken's company far more than anyone else on the fortresses.She had even managed to get a more convenient room (which meant farther from Dilandau, and also closer to Folken).Kaeshya practiced fencing in most of her free time not spent talking to Folken, and the rest was taken up by staring out the window at the inevitably beautiful and unspoiled landscapes of Gaea.Her life was almost better than that on Earth, except for Dilandau, and that she missed the adrenaline rush she got from flying a space-fighter.And then there were the dreams.They continued to visit her, nearly every night, always so similar, always ending with Kaeshya teetering on the edge of enlightenment, but waking up before it.She wished either for that understanding or for the dreams to cease, but got neither.She often sought a balcony and fresh air as a respite from her dreams.Perhaps too often.

On this particular day, Kaeshya found Folken outside as well, but on a different balcony.Kaeshya waved a greeting to him.She walked to the somewhat short rail, and peered over.She heard cloth rustle, but dismissed it as her own clothing.She was looking down at a small lake.When she felt the shove, and found herself falling far faster than she liked towards the ground.She looked up at the triumphant face of Dilandau at the rail.

Hope you like it.(I think I'm into the cliffhanger thing.)REVIEW please.Reviews are good.Reviews make writer happy!REVIEW!And if you don't… I will threaten you with not writing another chapter (but that would be horrible because this is NOT the end.)


	8. Memories

No

No!I refuse to be so cliché!(You'll see what I mean in a moment or to, and Dilly will NOT kill Folken.They're on separate balconies anyhow!)Well, after you read this, REVIEW.

Kaeshya continued to look upon Dilandau's quickly dwindling face.The expression he had on wasn't particularly flattering, though it was certainly a crazy-happy one.Kaeshya soon couldn't make out the details of Dilandau's face.She knew she'd been falling for a few seconds now, and wondered just how high up the Vione was.However, she stopped thinking about that, and focused on all the good things that happened in her life, trying to remember them all.She was quite resigned to her death, which was clearly unstoppable.She closed her eyes, and thought about all the good times she had spent with her fellow pilots and special agents, dance clubs, the adrenaline rush and immense satisfaction of taking out whole squadrons of Centaury fighters, her occasional lovers, and all the other things she had done in her memory of her seven years she remembered.A memory that was deeper flickered, and suddenly thousands of images of places, people and places, flashed through her mind.She remembered where that watery ruin was which haunted her dreams; she remembered what she was, why she had just so recently only known seven years of her life.It was as if a dam had burst within Kaeshya's mind, and her memories had flowed back to her.She knew that she was much, much older than she seemed, and she knew where her replacement eye _really_ came from, and why.And on a more sensory note, she knew she wasn't falling any more.But Kaeshya daren't open her eyes, lest she lose her grasp on her recently revealed past.She went over everything again and again, repeated all that had happened to her, loathing the idea that she might again forget.And Kaeshya resolved to find the people in her dreams who had been calling her, because she knew they were here, somewhere.She decided to open her eyes.When she did, Folken's face was in front of them.

Folken had not seen Dilandau push Kaeshya off, but he saw her falling, and saw Dilandau smiling at the rail, and made the connection.But he would reprimand him later.What was more important now was making sure Kaeshya didn't die.She was useless to the Zaibach Empire in that case, and he liked her on the side.He jumped after her, sprouting his majestic dark wings.He could see Dilandau snarling, as he dove past.Kaeshya was just a small dot now, but unless he was mistaken, a slowing falling dot.And _that_ didn't make sense.By the time he was close enough to make out details, he realized she didn't need rescuing.She was no longer falling, and had her eyes closed, as if in a trance perhaps.Folken couldn't pull out of his dive that quickly now anyhow, so he kept going to see if she was all right.

"Are you okay?" Folken asked.Kaeshya had at first thought that he was holding her, and noticed his wings with a start.Kaeshya also noticed that he wasn't holding her.

"You've got wings!"

"Well, I don't seem to be the only one." He responded dryly.Kaeshya looked at him in surprise and laughed.

"I don't have wings!I don't know what you're talking about!"

"I think you may be mistaken."Kaeshya looked over her shoulder and nearly fainted.She _did_ have wings!They were quite large, and of a brilliant titanium white, and looked feathered.She reached out to touch them, and decided that they were definitely _not_ feathers, but metal plates shaped like feathers. She wondered what metal could possibly be light enough though, and where had they been stored?Metal wings were not exactly small.She sifted through her new memories and knowledge, and found the reason.They were made of an ultra-light alloy which Terrans currently didn't have, and constructed of nano-robots which when not in wing form stored themselves in whatever part of her body they could.She wondered if the Terrans had had that technology before they found her.Probably not.She looked back at Folken.

"Alright so I do have wings.I just didn't know it until now."

"And how is that possible?"

"I told you I only remembered seven years of my life right? Well, the rest came back to me.Turns out I'm just a tad bit older than the 37 the military told me.And they didn't make my replacement eye either.Can we go back up there?I've half a mind to through Dilandau off the edge!We'll see if he'll be so lucky as to spontaneously grow wings (he wouldn't; I can tell you that!)Which brings me to the question of why _you_ happen to have wings."She started beating her newly acquired (and Kaeshya thought beautiful and marvelously fun) wings in powerful strokes towards the Vione.Folken flew beside her.

"I'm of the dragon clan."

"The what?"

"Draconians."

"Still no clue.Wait, lemme think for a moment.Now I've got _too_ many memories; it takes a long time to find what I'm looking for." Kaeshya said jokingly, and then paused. "Hmm, there is an explanation which makes sense.I'll explain later.What are you going to do about Dilandau?"

"I don't know. Probably nothing since you're unharmed. He doesn't take well to discipline anyways. I think merely the fact that you're still alive will be enough." Kaeshya laughed.

"Yes; I think that is probably enough. Not to mention his trying to kill me has made it harder for him to hurt me.And I can fly away whenever I please!"

"I hope you don't. Zaibach still needs you."

"For what?" Kaeshya said, somewhat scornfully.

"I don't know, but Dornkirk says you're important.Alive.And on our side."

"He doesn't tell you much."

"He is rather cryptic."

"You're going to have to convince me to stay you know.And you'll have to convince me that your cause is the right one as well."

"Very well."

"And let's not go back inside.Is there a flat space on top somewhere?"Kaeshya asked.They were at this time, about up to where Dilandau had pushed her off.He reappeared, at just the time when they were level with the balcony, holding a loaded and cocked crossbow.He stared, apparently completely baffled by Kaeshya's wings, and couldn't decide who to shoot at.Apparently he had though Folken would carry her back up, and wouldn't have shot him, thus getting them both out of his life.He made his choice, and fired.Kaeshya's hand shot out so fast that Folken and Dilandau hadn't seen it move, and she ended up holding a bolt which would have struck Folken through the eye.She waggled a finger at Dilandau "Ah, ah, ah.Mustn't try to kill you're superiors.You could get in trouble you know." Kaeshya then broke the metal bolt in half with her hand, and threw the pieces at Dilandau's feet, and continued flying upwards.Dilandau was cocking another bolt, but Kaeshya through her sword, and it split the crossbow neatly in half.Dilandau looked at her like she was a demon, and ran back inside."I assume you can get me another one Folken.Now, I believe you were about to convince me why I should side with Zaibach instead of being peacefully neutral."

"Ah, yes but, how did you catch that bolt, break it in half with one hand, and thrown your sword so accurately."Kaeshya shrugged, and said

"I'm a cyborg."

"A what?"

"You're arm is mechanical no?"

"Yes…but-"

"Imagine that mine arms are partially too, but you could only tell from the inside."

"How is that done?"

"Tiny robots, called nano-machines, are injected into the body, and given a program to run.They feed off metal that is supplied by some means, and build the enhancements from the inside out. The enhancements can be done nearly anywhere.The nano-bots are also responsible for me wings.The wings are composed of nano-bots held in one position with respect to each other.When I don't need them, they will find somewhere in my body to "store" themselves."

"How big are these nano-bots?"

"A pin-head would have thousands upon thousands."Folken was greatly surprised.

"But who could possibly be capable of such technology!Surely not the Terrans, from what you have said.

"No not the Terrans."

"Then who?"

"The Atlanteans."

Phew.That was a while for that to come out.HA!Folken did NOT save Kaeshya!Down with clichés!And for those Dilandau fans, it seems as though he's not going to get to kill her.What a shame!Anyhow, whether you like it or not, you should REVIEW.I'm open to plot suggestions too, if you have them.REVIEWs do influence the plot.And if you want random insanity, go read my other story that I wrote with Sarryn.And don't forget: you should REVIEW this story.


	9. Gone.Just gone.

The next chapter is now finished (just in case you didn't notice).Sorry it took a little longer to get out; I've been kinda busy.Well, anyhow, make sure you REVIEW after you read this, and please tell me how I can make it better.I'm open to plot suggestions as well.

If Kaeshya had not had Folken's full and complete attention before, she did now.His reaction was easily detectable.He snapped his head around to face her fully, and his back straightened.

"Atlanteans?"

"Yes."

"They built you?"

" 'Built', is not quite the proper term, we developed the technology to augment human organs and muscles and implemented it in me."

"You are not a machine?"

"I am partially a machine, my muscles are enhanced, but still organic based.My brain is organic, but has connections to a few internal systems.I'm can't quite remember, but I think my skeletal structure is also non-organic."

"Fascinating.You said 'we' developed the technology.You are Atlantean then?"

"Yes.At that point in time, we had not yet become powerful enough to change our form.I was...hmmm, and experiment of sorts, to see if we could use technology to change ourselves into what we wanted to be."As she spoke, she saw a flat spot on top of the Vione and motioned towards it."Shall we?"They landed there and sat.

"How did you survive so long?Atlantis has been gone for at least a thousand years."

"Have other Atlanteans lived so long?As for me, I would say it's because of the implants.The nano-robots are capable of repairing organic tissue as well."

"Did they leave you on Earth?"

"Yes and no."

"Can you explain?"

"I was technically on both and neither.I could be on Earth, or Gaea, or in Atlantis."

"How did you manage that?And why did they leave you behind?"

"It was done with a few 'gates', portals from Atlantis to Earth, and Atlantis to Gaea.The story of why I was left behind is somewhat more complicated.I was alive, and was my current self (physically speaking anyways, I had the implants) at the time that we developed the thought to power machine.We all thought it was our greatest accomplishment of course, but that was before it destroyed us.In only a few hours, most of Atlantis and the people with it were gone."Kaeshya paused for a moment, eyes full of sorrow, and Folken thought he saw a tear. "The survivors gathered afterwards, and we created Gaea.Someone had to stay in Atlantis, to make sure that the power we had created which ultimately destroyed us was not used unwittingly again.I volunteered.I became the Guardian of Atlantis.A special guymelef was made, and I was outfitted with the best of everything we had left to offer.We were determined that I would not be defeated to let someone discover the secret.So I stayed there, honing my skills constantly, and turned people back now and again.I remember misleading an old man once; I think he may still be alive, it was not long ago.I caused him to become lost in the mist.In any case, I stayed there for countless years; it must be close to two thousand.No one ever got past me.They either died trying or fled.Then something happened on Earth, I think perhaps a mine went off near me, and I woke up in that military hospital I told you about earlier."

"The you know where Atlantis is.Folken was particularly excited when he said this.

"Why?"

"Finding where the power of Atlantis is hidden is essential to Zaibach's plan."

"Which is?"

"To bring about a world without fighting, where all are equal."

"That is a lofty goal.How do you plan to accomplish it?"

"Well, the basic idea is to bring everything under Zaibach.We can use the fate alteration device (if we find the power of Atlantis) to help do so."

"I do not know where the power itself was hidden; only the machine, and it sounds like you don't need that."

"But it would be useful.Then we would have as much power as we needed."The look in Folken's eyes at that moment was not quite mad, and not quite avid desire, but certainly a look of wonder as he thought of what he could do with that power.

"You don't want that much power." Kaeshya said, her tone suddenly flat.

"We could accomplish our goals so much sooner."

"You do NOT want that power!" Kaeshya sounded angry now, and she glared at Folken "You don't understand what it can do!"

"But-"

"NO!I CANNOT let you have that machine!"Folken wisely said no more, and watched Kaeshya slowly become less angry.It was clear that tears were trickling down her cheeks now."It was horrible.I saw it all.My home, friends, family, parents, the whole city, gone.Just gone.It was so fast.I was high, coming home, and it was like the entire city caught fire at once.People were burned to dust instantly.Housed were pushed over by the force of the blast.Even some of the very land shifted."Kaeshya let her tears fall freely now, no longer even attempting to hold them back or hide them."You can't want the power that did that?Destroyed an entire city in a breath?"Kaeshya looked up at Folken, eyes glistening."You can't," she said in a whisper.Folken noticed that she looked much different when her face was wet with tears, her eyes full of entreaty instead of flashing anger.He moved up closer to Kaeshya put her arms around her, letting her lean her head against his shoulder, without really knowing why he had done so.She almost automatically put her arms up around his neck, and continued to remember, and cry.They just sat there, Folken saying nothing, and Kaeshya mourning long-gone things.

I know it's a little short, but this just seemed like a good place to stop.And I hope I have (for now) made all of you hopeless romantics (how many are there anyhow) happy.Now don't forget be good and REVIEW.


	10. Flown Away

Wow.It has been like, a majorly long time since the last chapter.Sorry.It's partly because I've had a bit of writer's block, but mostly because I've been lazy.Umm, I don't think I have anything else to say now, so, the next chapter!

They sat there for quite some time.Eventually, Kaeshya regained some composure and brought herself back to the now, instead of the past.After Kaeshya's tears ceased, she stood and walked closer to the edge, looking at the now just starting to set sun.She was at first startled that they had sat for so long.It had been late mourning when she had experienced her long fall.She contemplated Folken's statement of the Zaibach empires goals.Perhaps, perhaps, they could do it right.Kaeshya spoke to Folken without looking away from the sunset.

"You're really going to risk what happened to Atlantis in the hopes of achieving a perfect world?"

"Yes.It is a chance we will take.But I believe that fate can be avoided.So does Dornkirk."

"You want me to help you?"

"It would certainly be appreciated.Your skills are formidable."Kaeshya smiled at that.No doubt she must seem like close to the ultimate soldier.She was fast, strong, not exactly a bad fencer, and on top of it all, she had wings!

"You know that helping you to the machine would be going against what I swore to do and have done for many hundreds of years?"

"That is apparent from what you have said.But you could help make the process claim fewer lives."

"It seems that saving lives would not be an important item on your agenda.You are quite pragmatic."

"True.But I would rather not have to kill people, but am willing should the need occur."

"I cannot take you to the machine, but can perhaps locate the other thing you search for, _if_ you convince me your precautions are sufficient to prevent a catastrophe."The discussion continued past dusk, and several hours into the night.Folken was rather amazed at Kaeshya's stubbornness, because he thought he would be able to convince her quickly that Zaibach's plans were good and right, but it took rather longer than anticipated.Eventually though, Kaeshya did agree to at the very least, not interfere with them, and possibly to help them find what they were looking for.

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It had been a week or so since the Kaeshya had recovered her memories and in that time, she had noted a fleet of similar floating castle things assembling, and then the whole fleets movement over the ocean.Then of course there had been the whole little Dilandau goes off looking for Escaflowne and burns an allied city to the ground incident.Kaeshya had tried to stay out ofthat one, but was just a bit appalled at Dilly's (she had started calling him that in her mind because it was easier to say) errr, pyromania.She'd also managed to convince Dilandau to let her try to teach his slayers better swordsmanship.It was easy to convince him.She had idly said that she was sure that she could beat any of them in less than five minutes.He had of course been offended and dared her to prove it, which she did.The poor slayer (Kaeshya thought his name was Viole) took quite a beating.Apparently for whatever reason, Dilandau hadn't the time to train his swordsman.Today was the first morning they would be hers to train for a few hours.Kaeshya grinned evilly at the thought.She walked to the large training hall (and only got lost twice!) and moved to the center of the empty room.She was going to try something which she hadn't done in a long time.Kaeshya turned her awarness inwards thinking strongly about the billions of tiny machines she knew were in her, flowing in her blood, residing in her muscles, even filling empty spaces between organs.She "told" the nanobots what she wanted them to do, actually an implant in her brain formulated her though into precise instructions for every nano-machine, and relayed the command. Very slowly, the veins near the skin layer turned a very silvery color.Soon, the color had spread out form the veins to atop the skin, looking as if a network of mercury-like filaments covered her skin.Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.The lines spread over all her body, except the head. Even more slowly, the lines seemed to expand, making wide bands of silver.Eventually, these met each other forming a continuous coating.The stuff hardened, except at the joints, were it remained much softer, and a duller color.The rigid sections were a whitish grey, the soft parts close to black.From a distance, I looked very much like Kaeshya wore her clothing over a full suit of armor, which it essentially was.She opened her eyes, and removed her ship suit, since she didn't need it's meager protection at this point.She removed it's belt however, and strapped it, sword and all. It was only then that she heard shuffling and whispering behind her.She turned, to face all of the slayers, who currently looked rather dazed.

"Good morning.I will be instructing you today.We will start with short duels so that I can assess how good you are.Who's first?"

"Um, excuse me for asking, but shouldn't we use practice blades.That…armor…that you're wearing doesn't look very strong."

"It's quite strong enough, and you, Migel, have just volunteered.Come here."Kaeshya drew.

"I really am quite concerned that if I hit you that armor will break!I don't want to hurt you, because Folken would have my head if I did!"The rest of the slayers laughed, a little nervously.

"Then I'll just make sure you don't hit me."Migel laughed.

"You may have to eat your words!"He came at her quickly, blade flashing.Kaeshya parried easily, and counter-attacked.She pressed Migel hard, and he blocked madly at her rain of blows.She slowed, and he came back at her again.She parried most of his blows with ease, and some with a little more effort.However, she did not turn to the offensive."Why aren't you attacking?!"

"Because you're holding back."

"I am not!"

"You are."

"Liar!"

"Prove it!When you are not holding back perhaps I won't either!"Kaeshya's voice was taunting as spoke.Migel turned livid, angered, and began to press harder. Soon Kaeshya was satisfied that he was not holding back, and executed a complicated parry/attack, the end result being Migel's blade flung to the side and him clutching his bruised hand.

"You could have don that from the beginning."

"True."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because now I know how good you are."Kaeshya turned back to the main group of slayers. "Who's next?"And so went the day, and more days, as the great fleet of floating castles crossed the ocean.

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"Where are we going Folken?"

"Freid."

"That names means little or nothing to me.Show me a map."Folken did and Kaeshya raised her eyebrows."You're certainly going the right direction."Kaeshya's face took on a look of deep thought. She spoke suddenly after a rather long pause. "I have to go."She moved quickly towards the balcony of Folken's rooms.

"Where to? Why?"Folken was almost frantic as he asked these questions, and followed her quickly out onto the balcony, where she had sprouted her wings."Can't you tell me?"Kaeshya turned, looked up at his face.She grabbed him and kissed him deeply, then leaped off the edge into the air.Folke was rather to stunned to follow and the last word he heard were Kaeshya saying "I'll see you in Fried!"

Well, end of chapter.I have nothing else to say but: REVIEW!


	11. The Pattern

Wow

Wow.It's been a looooooong time since I wrote a chapter for this story.Sorry.Now just so it's clear, this fact is largely do to the smaller number of reviews for the last chapter.I expect more this time if you want more chapters.

Kaeshya dove quickly towards the water, below, then under the fortress.She didn't want Folken to follow her, much as she liked him.Kaeshya hovered under the Vione for a bit, but soon flew towards the next closest floating fortress, only a foot or so above the waves.She could only hope the glare from the sun would keep her from being spotted.She'd made it to the next fortress.Kaeshya looked back towards the Vione.No sign that she was being followed. Good.She repeated the same maneuver several times, until the Vione was no longer visible.Once she had that many fortresses between her and the Vione, she flew for shore as fast as she could.Occasionally she checked to make sure she wasn't being followed, but never was.It was a bit puzzling.Folken could have given chase almost immediately, and by now certainly could have ordered some 'melefs to follow her.But none were in evidence.Kaeshya shrugged, and flew on.

Folken was rather surprised at Kaeshya's abrupt departure, no to mention being kissed.Her last words were clear, but why would she want to get to Freid ahead of them?Certainly it would take more effort, and he doubted he could fly there on his own wings.On the other hand, he wasn't sure of Kaeshya's stamina, considering she was a cyborg, whatever the exact definition of that was.In any case, Folken had seen that she was definitely capable of things which a normal human could never hope to do.She'd once accidentally dented a solid-metal door when she knocked to hard.It was after Dilandau had done something, and she was, a little (to put it rather too lightly) angry.So perhaps it was possible that she could out-fly the fleet to Freid.Why though, Folken had very little idea.And it seemed like it would have been rather fruitless to send anyone after her, because she'd probably end up killing them.Kaeshya was downright terrifying, even to Folken, when she got into her, what he called, 'assassin mode'.It was like she lost all emotion and all that mattered was killing her target.And nothing was going to get in her way unless it wanted to end up dead too.Folken considered himself lucky that he'd only seen her like that once, and even more lucky that she didn't kill anyone.So he decided to just wait and see later why she took off so suddenly for Freid.

As soon as Kaeshya reached the shore, she stopped to rest.Flying as fast as she could from early morning to nearly dusk was taxing her limits.She needed food and sleep, in that order.She broke into a light jog, heading for a nearby forest.Hopefully, there would be something edible in there.After perhaps a quarter of an hour making a lot of noise and leaving an easily follow-able trail, she found some fruit and tubers to eat.They made a reasonable dinner, if perhaps a little gritty, and too crunchy, since it was all uncooked.After finishing, she climbed a tree and nestled herself between several large branches, rather like a jungle cat would.Kaeshya was quickly pulled down into Morpheus' realm.

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The morning was upon her, and she rose quickly.Kaeshya climbed to the top oh the tree, and poked her head cautiously through the leaves.The fleet was visible on the horizon now, which meant she must hurry.The gate in Freid would doubtless be destroyed with the arrival of the Zaibach army.She could make another later, but that equipment (or was it knowledge she had forgotten?) lay in Atlantis, and she needed it back.Taking another glance at where she leaped out of the tree, deciding to forgo the laborious process of climbing down.She landed heavily and let out a loud oof.That tree was taller than she had thought.She paused to get her breath back, and then closed her eyes and called to mind the maps which she had seen on the Vione and her current position, and soon knew which direction would be the fastest way to the mountains.She set off at an easy lope, which though it didn't look graceful, would carry her fast and far.It would have been much more convenient to fly, but there was far too high a chance of being discovered by some Zaibach patrol.There was no chance in hell that Kaeshya's shiny metal wings were in any way going to blend in with the nice bright green trees.So that was entirely out of the question.Kaeshya would run, and so she did.She just ran…and ran…..and ran….soon it was past noon…more running……Kaeshya ran some more…..and finally reaches the mountains. Please excuse err, the authors, um, unorthodox methods of passing large amounts of time, while giving no details of what happens.Back to the story. 

The mountain soon loomed before Kaeshya, and she slowed her pace as the incline grew steeper.Somewhere around here there should be a cave.It should be right here, but- Kaeshya's thought was cut short as she fell down a small hole that she had overlooked, and she was unable to finish her thought, seeing as she was tumbling down a long, and very uncomfortable, staircase.Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, she lay sprawled at the bottom of the staircase.Kaeshya blinked.Owww, was the only thought which was currently present in her mind.She blinked, repeatedly, until her vision stopped doing strange things.It was damned dark down there.Kaeshya could barely see, and that only because of the minute quantities of IR coming from moss living on the cavern's ceiling.Slowly, Kaeshya raised herself to her feet.Somewhere, she knew there was supposed to be a stone pedestal.Very slowly, Kaeshya turned her head back and forth, searching.Eventually, she was able to make out a patch of just-barely-not-pitch-black in the middle of the cavern.She walked towards it, managing to only trip a few times, and turned so that she faced the door, as some deep-rooted memory told her she should.Then she placed her palm on the pedestal and it fit neatly into a depression there.The outline of her hand flashed in a bright blue light, leaving her momentarily blinded.When she reopened her eyes, it was pleasing that the cavern was now lit.She felt something urging her to do something, and knew form her dimmest memories (it had been a damn long time when she had last done this) to envision the gate as it would look complete.Suddenly, a pattern of glowing blue concentric circles (there were about 12) appeared, and broke themselves into 6 fragments each, which then turned and moved outwards and inwards in a fashion to fast to see, until the circles were broken and jumbled almost beyond recognition.From here, Kaeshya knew what to do.

She concentrated, and the pieced began to move, spinning, shrinking, growing, moving slowly at first, but faster and faster, until the whole thing looked like a blur of moving glow.To Kaeshya, she could see exactly where very piece moved and it seemed to be at a normal pace.Rules of time were bent to their limit in this place, and for Kaeshya, time was moving very quickly, or was the outside world moving slowly?Quite suddenly, Kaeshya's concentration was nearly broken by a loud clattering.Light poured down the stairway.Someone must have followed her.Soon, an oddly clad monk stood at the bottom, holding a quarterstaff.He stared in awe at the pattern in front of him, and then through it, at Kaeshya.She looked like almost an entirely different person, surrounded by a bright blue glow, her eyes, completely that same blue as well, hair drifting as though weightless.The monk stepped forwards, and reached out towards the pattern.

"NO!Don't touch it, it's-"

Mwahahaha!More cliff hanging for you poor readers.I hope you liked that chapter. Now, I expect to get _at least_ 4 reviews for this chapter.Reviews make sooner, so the more reviews, the faster I'll right.And if I don't get 4 reviews…..Well, lets just say the next chapter just might not get written. _Ever_.So with those words, I leave you to you reviewing.


	12. Protector Awakened

I'm so proud of you all!You actually reviewed!And in a timely fashion.For those of you who always review. You can ignore those first 3 sentences, I'm still happy of course, but I know I can depend on whoever you are.Anywho *author wonders why he used who instead of how, but decides not to change because he's just read one of Sarryn's crazy stories*heres the story.The whole please review blurb will, of course, follow the story.

Kaeshya's sentence was cut short as the monks fingertips made contact with the forming patter.There ensued a bright flash and loud crack, the end result being the monk flung against a wall, and Kaeshya having to redo the section of the pattern he had touched.The monk was slumped on the floor, alive, but very definitely unconscious.He was going to wake up with quite a bruise, and, if he was lucky, nothing would be broken.Not wishing for further interruptions in what she was doing, Kaeshya used some of the excess power from the gate-equiptment to put a force-wall across the stairway.Then she refocused the entirety of her attention on finishing the pattern.It was going to start to get very, very difficult soon.The parts were beginning to form what the final pattern would look like, and it took more and more energy to force them into place.Since the gate _did_ almost break rules of the space-time continuum, it took a great deal of effort and energy to force the connection through.It was at this point that Kaeshya notices she was beginning to sweat heavily.But she was almost done.Just four more pieces, but they seemed to move ever so slowly.

The last one fit into place, and the pattern began to reform itself into a gate ready to take Kaeshya where she wanted to go.It was a series of interlocked concentric circles, but was flowing changing, and suddenly, with a brightening and then dimming was ready.A glowing blue spiral now hung in the air.Kaeshya willed herself 'into' the far end, envisioning the tunnel as it would be.Soon, the blue and white tunnel coalesced before her eyes, and she began the plunge through it that would take her too Atlantis, a place removed from normal time and space.The tunnel rushed by, moving faster and faster, twisting and turning in unpredictable and unexpected ways.She sensed that time has slowed significantly; space had warped itself to take her where she needed to go.Kaeshya was nearing the end of the tunnel (modern Earth scientists would have called it a wormhole.)To the monks, it had looked as though a glowing ball had suddenly appeared along the spiral, moving inwards at a steady pace.When it reached the middle, it stopped, and the light from it grew brighter and brighter until the monks were unable to look at it.When they could again, Kaeshya was gone.

Kaeshya finished the journey, and collapsed upon reaching the other side.She lay there breathing heavily for several minutes, regaining her strength and composure.Traveling through the gate was a harrowing experience.Kaeshya was very glad she didn't have to do to it very often.The electromagnet oddities played havoc with the electronics she carried with her, not to mention making most of her enhancements temporarily useless.Kaeshya sat up, and was happy that he did not get dizzy by doing so.It was a good thing the gate she used was only far from Atlantis as far as time went.Physically speaking, it was only a few hours walk away.She looked around, and, of course, Atlantis was just as bleak and desolated as always.She sighed, forcing memories that would have turned here into a crying mess to the back of her mind.She didn't have the luxury of much time on her side.She estimated it was perhaps about a day before Zaibach would attack, maybe less.Kaeshya waited a few more minutes, then stood up, and flew towards the one building in Atlantis in which anything of real value still remained.Her hangar/residence, so to speak.It was there that she stored her guymelef, _Protector_.It hadn't been used in a long time, but that shouldn't matter.Kaeshya landed in front of the person-sized door, and palmed it open.It slid aside easily.A good sign.Hopefully everything else was also in such condition.She stepped through the door, and sneezed from the dust inside.It was incredibly thick in the air (centuries of dust collecting will do that to a place ya know) and Kaeshya could almost feel it with every breath.It was disgusting.She fumbled around a bit for the lights, at soon was rewarded by lots and lots of fluorescent light, and for something like the fifth time that day, was temporarily blind.It was definitely getting to be a bad habit.Kaeshya walked towards the back of the hangar, passing the_ Protector_, meaning to do something about the current situation, as far as cleanliness was concerned.She opened the door to the large room which served as the center of her activities while staying in Atlantis.It was filled with dozens of screens, protruding from odd angles of the walls on retractable arms, and built into control stations, or just in the walls.She sat in the large chair which was behind the largest bank of equipment.Her fingers darted over the screens and knobs and buttons which filled the curving desk.One by one, the screens flickered to life, some showing scenes of Atlantis, others blank, and a very few error messages.Kaeshya soon got to turning on the giant fans in the hangar, meant to quickly flush out dangerous gases that might leak from whatever was stored there.In only a few minutes, the air was fresh, and relatively dust-free.

Her next step was to confirm that no one had been into her hangar while she was gone.Not surprisingly, the only thing which moved in the hangar while she was away were the security devices.Kaeshya also tired to get a few screens to show what was happening on Gaea (for those scientifically minded people, just imagine that she used extremely high resolution satellites), but only succeeded in getting two up, one she set on the Zaibach fleet, the other she had scanning the area around and in Freid for anything interesting.It was not long before she saw a group of Zaibach scout melefs fighting two others, who somehow managed to be holding the five or six Zaibach melefs at bay.Eventually the two sword wielding melefs one, and stood triumphantly in the river, several Zaibach melefs destroyed, one only crippled.Kaeshya had less time than she anticipated.She had to go back now.

She left all the equipment running, in such a way that it would take care of it.Kaeshya moved towards _Protector_ and it's multiple power sources pulsed with her proximity.They wouldn't run if she should die.Fortunately, the arrangement did not work the other way around.As she approached further, the cockpit opened, spilling a set of gray-white armor on the ground, along with a black cloak.Kaeshya immediately wondered why in the world she left the armor in the cockpit, along with her cape and scythe, a weapon which she had used before loosing her memory, and she favored by far over swords, but decided to worry about it later.She donned the outfit, and walked up to the cockpit of her mercury colored guymelef.It closed, and Kaeshya heard the hiss as the cockpit was pressurized.Her guymelef was definitely different from most.It was airtight, in space and water.She slowly went through all the necessary checks, hitting buttons and tapping sequences here and there.This was another difference in her melef, it was not controlled through her own body movements, but through commands from her mind, leaving her body free for other things.Usually though, she rested her arms on the chair, closed her eyes, and commanded the guymelef that way.It was easier to concentrate completely on piloting.She saw through the melefs sensors when she did that.Now though, the section in front of her simply turned clear, at least to her.It would still appear painted from the outside.The front of the melef had a stylized face, on the front of the head.Some of the parts were sensors, some just paint.The eyes glowed, and were actually sensors.Kaeshya flexed the melefs muscles, and it responded beautifully.She pulled the scythe from its sheath, deployed the blade, and held it in front of her.It was quite long, as tall as the melef almost, and intricately decorated.Kaeshya walked out of the hangar, and looked up at the sky.Time to go back and join the fun.In style.The guymelef's great wings took mighty strokes, lifting it into the air.It flew towards the horizon of Atlantis, and winked out.

Ok, now that you've read the story, please oh please review.And maybe more than 4 this time?To those who did review, your reviews have brought happiness to my life (at least for a little while).And I will repeat; no reviews, no more chapters.It really is very easy you know.Its not like I'm expecting anything long.Just some acknowledgment that you read it and liked it (or have something to complain about). Well that's all.REVIEW, and there will be more chapters.


	13. Rescue

One review

One review?!Only one review?!Must I really resort to threats of no more story to get reviews?I don't like doing it, but I will if I have to.There should have been _at least_ 3 reviews, since three people have me on the author alert thingy.I am so immensely disappointed.I'm writing this chapter now mostly because I want to.But there had better be more reviews this time, or else….

_Protector_ was working beautifully.No power problems, all the automated systems were completely functional, and it was still clean.Kaeshya flew very high over Freid, where the air was too thin for an unsealed guymelef, and she could barely stay aloft without using jets or rockets.They would have been too noisy, and rather noticeable.Kaeshya was tracking the progress of the party of melefs which had left the river, specifically, a white one (Escaflowne)?Kaeshya suspected that it could be, but wasn't sure) and a brownish one which she personally thought was ugly.They had one of the Zaibach guymelefs, and presumably its pilot, as well.Of course, she really didn't have to follow them, but she was curious, and wouldn't mind having a slayer seriously in debt to her.It looked as though they were all heading towards the castle.That would make getting the prisoner out slightly difficult, and the melef would almost certainly have to be left._Protector_ could haul a lot of weight, but not on of those Zaibach melefs.They were heavier than they should be.

Later in the day by an hour or two, the party Kaeshya followed finally reached the palace, and disappeared into the depths of it somewhere.She circled for nearly half an hour, doing deep-radar on the castle, trying to locate the prison, and was only partly successful.She knew where the melef was, and the other ones, but could only get dim outlines of the prison area, because it was pretty far underground.Satisfied that she had seen as much as she would, she took one more look at the map she had put together, and headed for a nearby hill where she could stash her melef.Kaeshya did so, covering it with leaves as best she could in a relatively short time, and went off at an easy lope towards the castle.She wanted to get as close as possible before taking flight.She had already determined that she would enter the building through the ceiling somewhere, and work her way down.Soon, she was behind a hedge, guards on their patrols only a few meters away.She waited until they faced away from her, and leaped up, spreading her wings and powering her way up and towards the castle.It was not long before she was spotted and the alarm was raised.Luckily, most of the guards carried only quarterstaffs.Kaeshya figured she had a few more minutes before they could get some archers out.She underestimated them, and knew it since she felt an arrow hit her wings, and, relatively harmlessly, bouncing off.Kaeshya tried to increase her pace, now dodging arrows, and once in a while thanking herself for leaving her armor in _Protector_ and by the time she finally landed on a roof, she had several arrows protruding from the first layer of her armor.She pulled them out, and tucked them into her belt for possible later used.Kaeshya quickly searched the roof for a weak spot, and found none. So much for that plan.She stuck her head over the overhang, looking for guards.Just two.Getting a firm grip, Kaeshya swung over the gutter and both feet impacted heavily on the guard's chest, knocking him to the wall, where he was almost certainly knocked unconscious.She dropped onto the ground, and in a flash had scythe out, and it blade soon clicked into position (it was spring loaded, stored parallel to the metal shaft.)The other guard was soon on her, and she was hard pressed to fend of the rain of blows from his quarterstaff.Quickly, while blocking with the shaft of her weapon, which was parallel to the ground, she leaped with all her strength to the left.The guard literally fell in half.Kaeshya moved quickly to the door, inside the building, and then down, towards the prison.No guards as of yet.Nobody broke _in_ to prisons.However, there would certainly be more guards soon.She opened a wooden door, and the guard on the other side opened his mouth to sound the alarm, but his mouth was soon no longer attached to his lungs.Kaeshya continued downwards, not feeling a drop of remorse, for the two men she has killed so far.In fact, she felt very little emotion, and currently cared only about accomplishing her goal, even if it killed hundreds.Her state would have frightened most anyone.Opening more doors, she slew all the guards who saw her.

Kaeshya opened another door, this one much stronger that the rest, and entered the halls near the cells.They were filled with guards.She charged them all quickly, her scythe dripping blood, and her armor splattered, before they could get organized.She tore through them viciously, a whirlwind of death.There must have been many of them, because to her the stream seemed endless, and she was starting to tire.What was actually only about 10 minutes later, though it seemed like an eternity, they stopped.About her lay a pack of guards, dead or so badly injured as to be no threat.Kaeshya moved quickly down the row, ignoring all the prisoners but the one further down who wore slayer armor. It didn't take long too reach the proper cell.

Van, Allen, and the rest of the 'good guys' crew watched in growing amazement which quickly turned too fear, and for some terror, as the strange woman worked her way down the hall, downing guards with every step.Allen and Van both tried to see what sort of sword she wielded, for if it was a sword, she used it in unusual ways.Occasionally they would get a glimpse of metal, but that was all.Too many bodies crowded around her.Hitomi really didn't care, and was mostly frightened at the rate which the woman killed guards.Slowly, the crowd of guards diminished, and she stood still for a moment, during which several of the people locked in that particular cell likened her to the Angel of Death, standing there, resplendent in her whitish armor, blood splattered and dripping from her scythe.Allen decided that perhaps he was in love.

Kaeshya had reached the right cell, but had kind of forgotten that it would be locked.What to do?She certainly couldn't cut through the bars, they were solid, and perhaps more than an inch thick.She had nothing to pick the lock with, so that option was out of the question.Perhaps the bolt itself could be destroyed? It was visible, the bars of the door were perhaps an eight of an inch from the wall, and in between the large dead bolt was visible.Perhaps she could find a key off a dead guard?No, that would take to long.Kaeshya had a glimmering of an idea, but it was going to hurt.She held her scythe with her left hand and spread two fingers apart on her right.She closed her eyes and took a breath.A snapping a crackling sound made itself heard, and an arc of power came to life between her fingers, like a sustained arc-welder.It hurt like hell, but it was the only fast way Kaeshya could think of.She moved her fingers as close to the deadbolt as possible, and then willed the arc through it.Soon, there was a neatly melted gap. She stopped the arc and swung the door open.Miguel faced her, now that she had time to look at the slayer's face."We've got to get to my melef!" he said frantically.

"No time!"

"How will we get out of here?!"

"In mine.Now come on!"Kaeshya grabbed his arm and dragged him behind her, until he started running.She heard footsteps coming down the stairs.It was going to be quite a fight.

Please excuse the strange part from the perspective of the 'good guys'.In retrospect, I'm not sure why I put it there, but I also don't feel like taking it out. Now as for reviews…There had damn well better be more than 1!!!!!I expect _at the very, very least_ 3 reviews! And more would certainly be better.If I don't get 3, there _won't_ be another chapter, at least, you'll never get to read it.So you won't get the next chapter until there are at least 3 reviews.And it might take a few days even if there are quick reviews.The more reviews, the more likely I am to write sooner.SO PLEASE OH PLEASE REVIEW if you read this chapter!!!!


	14. Return

Ok.Before I start this next chapter I would like to apologize for the um…. lengthy (understatement) gap between the last one and this.I was on vacation, and then was busy when I got back, and fanfic.net was down and so and so on.Also, due to a certain review, I will not be begging for reviews any more, though they are still appreciated.This could result in longer periods between chapters.So, without further adieu Chapter 13!

Kaeshya looked quickly over her shoulder, hoping dearly that the dungeon had two exits, but alas, it was well designed and had one.She wasn't exactly excited about the prospect of having to kill any more guards.It was they didn't use swords, or she would probably be dead.As it was, she was merely bruised all over (literally, with the exception of her head), and probably suffering mild internal bleeding.She sighed, resigned to being nearly dead when she got out of this (it wouldn't be the first time), and ran for the staircase, this time sheathing the scythe a producing two wicked looking devices from thigh-pockets in her armor.They fitted over her hands and wrists, and, when the hands were balled into a fist, three foot long curved blades protruded from the devices.Kaeshya continued up the stairs and discovered they had locked the first door, presumably to trap her until they could amass more guards.She looked at the hinges (foolishly placed on this side) and scored them in several places with her battle claws.She backed up a little on the landing, and kicked the door with all her strength.It dented were she hit it but held.Steel belted on the other side perhaps.She kicked again and it dented again but held.Kaeshya turned back to Migel."On the count of three run into it as hard as you can!We have to knock this door down!"Migel moved up next to her on the landing."One, Two, Three!"They both slammed into the door and continued to push.It creaked and groaned, and fell inwards with a loud crack.

Migel leapt forward before Kaeshya could and dispatched the first of a line of guards with ease.Another moved to fill the fallen's place.There looked to be about 6, and then it was clear to the next landing at least.Migel fought viciously and quickly half the guards were down.He was good, but to slow.Kaehsya shoved him behind her roughly between guards and immediately made a vicious stab in the man's gut, and used the other hand to slice across his face.He went down screaming in pain, and still alive.She jumped over him and confronted the next guard.He raised his quarterstaff to block her swipe, but unfortunately for him, the claws were sharper than he though and easily sliced through the wood.His quarterstaff was now two eighth-staffs.Kaeshya grinned evilly for him before she decapitated him.The next guard turned to flee but not before Kaeshya grabbed his neck and broke it.She ran up the staircase, and looked back only once to check on Migel.He looked a bit green in her opinion.She soon arrived at ground level, and peaked around the door.Only a few guards, none with bow and arrow.They could be ignored.Kaeshya sprouted her metal wings, grabbed Migel just as he reached the door and dashed out. With the largest jump she could manage, she started to haul herself and Migel upwards with long hard and fast wing strokes.

"You have wings?!" Migel exclaimed. "Why?"

"Tell ya later."Guards were now swarming out of the castle and some with arrows.She felt some bounce off her wings only a few seconds later.This could get ugly.She needed more altitude and fast."Oh for an updraft." was her foremost thought.She steered herself towards what appeared to be a chimney, and was rewarded with a blast of warm air. They rose a little faster, hopefully it would be enough.

When they had just enough altitude Kaeshya turned and went into a very shallow glide, headed for the _Protector_.

"Where are we going, Kaeshya?"

"My melef.It's hidden in a little valley.You should be able to see it oh….now!There!" she pointed in the proper direction.

"That shiny thing?"

"Yes."

"It's going to get us out of here?How will we get to the _Vione_?Certainly it doesn't fly, from the looks of it."Kaeshya smiled and said nothing, while thinking to herself 'Oh it can fly.It can _really_ fly.'In only a few more moments they landed near _Protector_, the palace guards surely only minutes behind.

Kaeshya jotted towards her melef and grabbed a cable which hung down from the cockpit."Hurry up Migel!"He ran over and stared perplexedly up.

"It fits two people?"

"Just grab the cable."Soon after Kaeshya's order was obeyed, the cables pulled them up to the cockpit at high speed. (like…zip….done).They emerged from a hatch and Kaeshya sat down in the pilots chair, declining to use the tactile interface (what most normal melefs used) and opted for direct neural."Use the seat over there."Migel sat down and stared around him at wonder, at the spacious (in comparison) cockpit and the high-tech equipment which covered the walls, save the front.

"How do you pilot this without being able to see?"he asked.Kaeshya tapped out a sequence and the whole melef hummed to life, screens lighting, and the front viewplate becoming transparent. "Oh."

"Buckle your seatbelt. The thing with the clips." Migel soon figured out the device and fastened it."Were going for a ride."_Protector_ began to make a jet-like noise, the pitch becoming higher and higher, until it hovered at just the high end of human hearing.From outside the noise was audible, and the melef was surrounded by guards waiting for a Freid melef unit to arrive.The melef folded it's formerly outspread wings to it's back, and lifted a few feet off the ground.A blue glow emanated from a ventish looking thing on its back, and a strong wind blew from under its feet.The glow formed into a large blue flame with a flash and the melef rose quickly faster and faster into the air leaving a trail of steam behind it.Eventually it changed from straight up to angling off towards some unknown destination.

It was only an hour or so before they located the _Vione_, and Kaeshya landed in the main hangar, directed by Migel.Before she had a chance to complete shutdown and get out of her own accord, several Zaibach melefs surrounded her and demanded that she exit the melef immediately.She did of course, but not before programming the _Protector_ to give a nasty shock to anyone who tried to operated or tamper with it.Including melefs.That was mostly for Dilandau, since he would almost certainly try to sabotage it.When the melefs saw that she was with Migel (and when they verified he wasn't her hostage or any such nonsense) they apologized and let her go her way, which meant parking her melef and returning to her room and falling heavily on the bed (once the door was bolted) and falling asleep, waiting for the billions of nano-bots in her body to do their repairing magic.She would probably sleep for at least 24 hours.

Well that's all for this chapter.Please review, and I'm sorry again that it's been so long since I wrote and I know the chapter is a little shorter than some of them.


	15. Return part 2

Um.  Well.  I hope I haven't lost to many reviewers because I haven't written in so long.  And I have no excuses, so I won't try to make any up.

            While in her restive slumber, Kaeshya dreamed of Atlantis in all its glory.  Certainly not much to look at any longer.  Rather desolate.  At some point she also thought she woke to an insistent beeping (it could have been _Protector_ informing her of a foiled attempt to gain access) but she wasn't sure.

            "It holds _two_ people? And you can pilot with only wearing, what was it you said, something like a circlet?" Dilandau leaned forward excitedly in his throne.

            "Yes, and at two people sir.  There might have been more seats I didn't notice."

            "Hmmm.  Intriguing.  Take me to it!"  Migel immediately led off towards the hanger, at which they quickly arrived.  _Protector_ looked very out of place in the hangar with all the Zaibach melefs, what with its basic design differences and its strange coloring.

            "How does one get in?"

            "There was a cable which pulled us up into the cockpit sir.  But it's not down, and I don't know how she triggered it."

            "We'll just use the gantry then."  Swiftly resumed walking accompanied Dilandau's words.  They soon approached the polished front of _Protector_, currently opaque.  "No windows?" Dilandau said incredulously.

            "This whole front section is clear from the inside."  Migel's comments only seemed to increase Dilandau's lust for the machine.  Conceited though he may have been, Dilandau recognized superior technology when faced with it.  Dilandau moved forwards, greedy eyes scanning for a mechanism that would open the melef.  He found none of course.  In a fit of anger, he slammed his fist into the machine, and yelped as a brilliant arc hit his fist.  Migel fought desperately to suppress a smile.  He wouldn't put Kaeshya so low as to assume she wouldn't guard her melef somehow.  Not after the amazing rescue she had just managed to pull off, somehow.

            When Dilandau recovered from the shock, he glared at the machine and then Migel, in that order.  "Bring cutters. NOW!" Dilandau raged at Migel, before returning to nursing his injured hand and glowering at the melef.

            Migel soon returned with several different types of cutting devices.  The first several broke almost immediately.  The last, one of Folken's gadgets that Dilandau probably shouldn't have been using, merely resulted in a huge shower of sparks whenever the cutting device and the melef's surface met.  Eventually, even the now rather mad (both angry and insane) Dilandau had sense enough to call it off as useless.  The _Protector_ was impervious to anything they could hope to use with precision.  It wouldn't stand up to repeated hits from other melefs' weapons, but anything much smaller was like throwing pebbles at a rhino.  You could only succeed in annoying it.  Reluctantly, Dilandau stormed out of the hangar, no doubt seeking some unfortunate to vent his anger on.

            Kaeshya finally awoke to sunlight streaming through the window, but she couldn't be sure immediately whether it was dawn or dusk.  Kaeshya stretched, luxuriating in the thick bedcovers.  She took her time in rising.  When she stood, she was relieved that the worst of her soreness had left her, and she could at least move about with relative freedom.  Kaeshya moved to the wardrobe, intending to retrieve and don her armor.  She was quite surprised at the contents.

            Not only did her armor lie on the floor of the wardrobe on one side, but several other articles of clothing hung within.  They appeared to be more outfits, some more functional, others quite decorative, and all nicer than the two she had had before.  Surmising their possible origin rather quickly, Kaeshya changed into one of the outfits, a deep sea green dress which didn't restrict movement too much.  Then she left her room, scurrying away.

            "Folken?"  Kaeshya peered within the dark room, trying to locate him.  On further inspection, Kaeshya realized that a door out to a balcony was open.  She moved through it, and was pleased to discover Folken outside, gazing across the landscape.  Kaeshya glided up to him, being as quiet as possible.  She leaned her head against his shoulder.  "I came to thank you for the clothes.  Their quite nice." Kaeshya said, as the last rays of sunset faded away.

Whoa.  Long-time no chapter.  This is sort of a feeler chapter, to see if people are still interested.  Please review and let me know.  Thanks!


	16. Joy and Tragedy

Wow….its been….half a year since I wrote. I'm not dead; the stories not dead, my brain just needed time to become re-inspired.  Please review, seeing as it will make me happy.  Oh, and do take some time to go read my new, original story, Soul Prophesy. (Please?)

            Kaeshya yawned, sunlight pouring like honey through the window.  She got out from the spread and carefully stepped off the bed so as not to wake the still-sleeping Folken.  She dressed herself in the same sea green dress (now somewhat ruffled) that she had worn the night before.  She stepped into the hallway and scurried off to find some food.

            Kaeshya returned perhaps a quarter hour later, bearing a tray of steaming grain-meal.  Folken was just waking as she neared the bedside.  They shared a smile and a look.  Kaeshya pulled a chair over, declining to return to the bed for breakfast, and deposited the tray on Folken's lap.  They ate in relative silence, watching the tranquil landscape slide by beneath the huge picture windows.

            "It's a shame that the sort of land is bound to be decimated by the conflicts of its neighbors.  Freid is neutral is it not?"  Kaeshya mused, after swallowing the last remnants of her meal.

            "It is; however, they have refused our diplomatic requests to investigate some of the older caves in the area, which Dornkirk claims contain at least a part of what we seek."  Kaeshya made no immediate reply to Folken, but he could see just the barest traces of worry and doubt flicker across her face.

            "So you will force them by right of arms then?"

            "Yes, but I hope to avoid undue blood shed.  The idea is that the might of our fleet will force Freid to capitulate.

            "I doubt it." Kaeshya had a tone of certain dread in her voice.  She had just remembered why Freid seemed familiar, and the monk from when she had gated to Atlantis.  Her people, through her, had given them the task of keeping people away from finding that piece of the machine.  But they could not hold off the Zaibach legions.  Kaeshya stood, and walked out to the balcony, her long white hair blowing unrestrained from the zephyrs that teased it.  A few minutes later, Folken joined her quietly, standing just behind and to one side of Kaeshya.

            "You are melancholy. Again." He said dryly.  "I don't suppose you'd like to share."

            "I knew these people's, the Freids, ancestors.  I don't want to see them die.  And yet they will.  They will fight to the last for their sworn oath of protection.  It is saddening."

            "We don't want to kill them."

            "But you will."

            "Come. Certainly there is something more pleasant we could discuss.  Your melef perhaps?"

            "Now that," Kaeshya turned to face Folken, "was a poor attempt at extracting information.  But, why not.  And what would you like to know that I can tell you without giving away technology?"

            "How many does it seat?  Migel claimed easily two, perhaps more."

            "Yes."

            "That's not very clear."

            "That's the point."

            "What sort of weapon do you use?  The techs weren't able to identify whatever was in the back-sheath.  The though maybe a pike of some sort."

            "No.  This I can tell you.  It's a scythe.  Much like my own, which I believe is in my room, along with my armor."

            "A scythe!?"  Folken's tone was incredulous.

            "Yes.  They're quite versatile in skilled hands."  Kaeshya and Folken had drifted back into the main room, towards a table, as they spoke.

            Somehow, Kaeshya soon ended up in front of Folken, facing the window, and the conversation had drifted far away from guymelefs.  Folken murmured into Kaeshya's ear.

            "I think….that our time would be much better spent not talking."  He titled her head up, and their lips met.  Footsteps sounded outside, but they paid them no heed.  The door to the hall opened.  A singsong, and dreadfully evil and mad (insane) voice sounded.

            "Oh Folken…..I brought her a present!"  There was a loud click, and then Kaeshya felt something very hard drive into her back.

            "Oh, dear," Kaeshya gasped, "I do believe," Kaeshya paused, "that I've been shot."  Folken felt something warm and thick oozing over his fingers on Kaeshya's back.  "I think…..that I may faint…now."  Kaeshya sagged in Folken's arms, and Dilandau ran off down the hall, emitting his signature cackle.

            Is it the end? Who knows.  Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't. Only time and the author will tell.  Please review, it makes me happy and more write likely.  No flames, constructive criticism welcome.  And please go read Soul Prophesy too!


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